Chapter I: Loki the God of Lies and Deceit
There he was, bound to the rock with the snake above him. Day by day the snake's venom will drop from its tongue and melt his face. He could not stand the pain for it burns everytime he feels the poison oozing upon his flesh. It was his fault that he guided Hodur to kill his brother Baldur. It was because of him that the God of Light was murdered and shrouded the World from the Light it once knew. The Gods caught him as guilty as he was and chained him where he is in the present with the chains of Gleipnir. The Gods wanted him to suffer for his deeds and so Odin the All-Father placed a snake upon the God of Lies to torture him with the snake's venom. Loki's agony turned to hate and with that hate he bore a great vengeance against the Aesirs, or whom he use to call his Brothers.
Eons have passed since he was chained. Yet the course of destiny must be fulfilled and that one day Loki will rise against the Gods. But to break his bonds one must find him first, but only the Aesirs knew his true whereabouts in the realm of Midgard. Yet the servant's of Loki who presumed themselves loyal to their Master searched high and low for their fallen Master. One such servant was the Lord of Death of Nifleheim who commanded an army of Undead. Years ago Nifelheim was a peaceful city called Aflheim. They went through a glorious era until they fell before the Lord of Death and his army of Undead. He was given word that Loki was kept beneath in a secret cave under the city. There he waged his war and destroyed the city along with its population. Then he claimed the city for himself and named it Nifleheim, the city of the dead for nothing lives anymore in that city except the Undead. The Lord of Death then commanded his army to dig the ground in search for their Master.
"Why haven't we found Him yet?" burst the Lord of Death as he thrust the dead land with his mighty lance. He was enraged that his legions have not found the remains of their Master, "All of you are useless and why did I even bother of raising all of you from the dead if you were not of use to me!"
The Lord of Death raised his feet and crushed a Ghoul beside him. The others could only watch at their Master's malice upon one of them. They could do nothing for their minds are weak and did not have the slightest will to revolt. Their life was in his hands and he could take it away easily for He was the one that gave them a new life. They are now his Undeads and they are only servants of his will and iron fists. Suddenly an Abysmal Knight rode on his black steed to give word to the Lord of Death.
"Milord, we have stumbled upon something underground. Our Undead has discovered a hidden cavern deep beneath the ground and a huge wooden gate. We have tried opening it but not even an army of our Raydrics can unbolt that door," said the Knight with a grim tone, "It maybe the door where our Sire is kept and we need you to see it for yourself."
"Finally, our hard earn labor has finally bear fruits," said the Lord of Death in his breath as he lift his feet. The zombie he crushed had turned to dust yet it did not concern the Lord of Death. He rode on his phantom steed and followed the Abysmal Knight to the dig site to seek the hidden cavern.
The dig site was huge and it expanded much more as the years passed by. It was the work of Lord of Death's Zombies and Ghouls. They did not tire nor need anything for they had no need for anything else anymore. When He entered the dig site all of them stopped working and faced themselves towards their Master. The Lord of Death paid no attention towards them only following the Abysmal Knight into the ground below. Both of them descend down the spiral made stairway quickly and could care less who was in their way. Any poor Undead in their way was either crushed or even pushed into the deep ground below by their steeds. It took both of them awhile to reach the cavern. And there was the army of Raydrics trying to bolster themselves against the huge wooden gate led by a Blood Knight.
"Osgiliath!" the Lord of Death addressed the Blood Knight, "What is the situation and why have you and your armies not open the entrance to our Sire yet?"
"Milord, we have tried for hours with everything we have," compelled the Osgiliath the Blood Knight, "We even have resorted to battering rams but we could not even scratch it. I have no doubt that our Sire is kept here for only a gate such as this would serve nothing else than to keep us from getting to Him. It would take a God to open this door."
"I have no time to hear this Osgiliath. I want that door open now. Our Master is calling! He wants his revenge, can't you hear his agonized voice begging for our help?" argued the Lord of Death, "If you and your pathetic Raydrics can't open it then I shall try it for myself."
The Lord of Death got off his phantom steed and head straightforward for the gate. The Raydrics of Osgiliath stood aside as if they feared the Lord of Death. Only one who was still trying to break down the gate was not aware of his presence became a victim of his wrath. The Lord of Knight grabbed the Raydric and tossed him halfway across the cavern ending the Raydric's bound soul. The Lord of Death tightened his deathly gauntlets and grabbed the gate's handle.
For a moment he thought he would take back what he said towards Osgiliath for the door was harder than he expected. It took the Lord of Death an immense effort to try opening the gate. The cavern was filled with his sinister screams as he tried harder to open. He could feel the door opening and so did everyone in the cavern. But by opening the gate he caused a huge impact on the cavern, all the stalactites were falling upon the Raydric army. Osgiliath was one to give warning for everyone to take cover.
The Lord of Death could not careless what was happening. The door was slowly opening as He was giving every amount of strength he has left. The cavern was full of cracks and an earthquake occurred. Most of the Raydrics in the cavern were caught in the mayhem but in the end the gate was opened before the Lord of Death.
"Milord! You've done it! You have opened the gateway!" shouted Osgiliath congratulating the Lord of Death.
He however lost most of his strength and breath no doubt he was satisfied with himself. The Lord of Death stood forth before the gate and went inside followed by Osgiliath and his Raydrics. The army of the Darkness was standing in front a huge hall that was made eons ago. Nevertheless they entered without knowing its history. The hall once belonged to the Dwarves and this was once a mine, which they dig to obtain the ores of Oridecon and Elunium. So long were they forgotten and their glory. The Lord of Death could see a few misshapen and old broken Ores lying around. He could also see rusted pick axes and mining equipments left by the Dwarves.
"Milord, what is this place?" asked the Blood Knight looking cautious and suspicious of the mine, "This place looks like a Mine."
"It was o'Osgiliath, it belonged to the dwarves eons ago. But I presume they abandon it when the Aesir decided to keep our Sire here. And so forth they covered the mine with huge amounts of Earth," said the Lord of Death, "Then eons later Aflheim was built as this place history was easily forgotten. And now we shall head in front of us for it seems that another entrance is there."
The Lord of Death led Osgiliath and the Raydric army through the halls. They stumbled upon another entrance but it was not as hard to open as the previous one. Two Raydrics opened the entrance allowing the Lord of Death to enter with Osgiliath by his side. As he stepped foot into the room before him, there lies a Man chained on a stone. His chains glimmered for they were made of gold string – Gleipnir. But something was quite unusual there was a huge opening above all of them; there was no ceiling or some sort. It was opening to some other surface. The Lord of Death would care about it later and quickly tended to whom they believe is, Loki.
"This is our Sire?" asked the Blood Knight not believing what he is seeing, "He is indeed bound to chains as the legend says. But I would not believe he would look like a Human. He looks more human than God to me."
"Believe what you will Osgiliath. I have no doubt he is Loki the God," responded the Lord of Death as he untied the Man's bonds. The man was unconscious probably tired of waiting for someone to free him. But his face was discard and melted for some reason. The Lord of Death suddenly felt something he had forgotten he looked around him and saw a snake like being before him jumping from above.
The Snake hissed at the army of the Darkness. It was huge more than anything in the army's ranks. The Lord of Death picked up Loki and took a few steps back glaring at the Snake. The Snake however responded by lunging its head towards the Lord of Death. However a Raydric dutifully sacrifice itself to save its Master. The Snake grabbed the Raydric and crushed its hard armor with its gnawing teeth.
'Who dares to break the bondage of the God of Lies!" the snake demanded as he hurled venomous spits towards the army of Darkness. Most of the Raydrics that came in touch of the venom melted and forever lost their souls.
"It is you, the Snake which dwell beneath the roots of Yggdrasil. I am the Lord of Death and I have come here to take back our Master, the God Loki!" the Lord of Death shouted forth towards the Snake as many more Raydrics surrounded and guarded him.
"I the Dark Snake Lord have been given the task by the Gods and that is to guard the God of Lies from any intruders. Thee shall stay here and none of thou shall be allowed to live afterwards for ye' know the secret entrance of the gate." Hissed the Dark Snake Lord. "Thou shall all Die here and now may ye' be living or dead!"
As he spoken enough the Dark Snake Lord hurled another venomous spit and melted the Raydrics in the front lines. The Lord of Death turned to Osgiliath and said, "Bear with him Blood Knight! Your deeds shall be well remembered by us and shall be in bear with the God of Lies! For his safety is our greatest concern!"
And with that the Lord of Death quickly left the Osgiliath and Raydrics to deal with the Dark Snake Lord. Thousand more Raydrics move to the front boldly going up against the Dark Snake Lord. Osgiliath raised his huge sword in the air and commanded forth his Raydrics to battle the Dark Snake Lord. Even though the army of Darkness' were great in numbers were of no match against Dark Snake Lord. The Raydrics fell before his venomous saliva and somewhere crushed by his immense bulk. Their weapons of steel were of no use against the Dark Snake Lord and quickly they fell. Osgiliath stood alone with a few other tens of Raydrics with him. He battled fiercely against the huge Snake but was forced to submit as he was battered and in the end his armor that kept his hideous soul was melted and destroyed by the venom. "Lord of Death! I am coming for you now! Your pathetic army is of no strength to rise arms against me!" the Dark Snake Lord shouted across the cavern.
The Lord of Death rushed across the great hall with Loki in his arms. He could hear the frantic yelling of the Dark Snake Lord right behind him. As he ran he suddenly a felt a small glint of turmoil upon him. Osgiliath is no more. The Lord of Death has lost one of his primed Lieutenants yet his sacrifice shall not be in vain. He hurried right passed the great gate that was almost impossible to open yet the Dark Snake Lord caught up. With one of his devilish like body parts he stretched and caught the Lord of Death's leg and tripped him.
"As I have spoken o' Death Lord! You shall pay for your adolescence!" hissed the Snake Lord and his dragged the Lord of Death near him.
"Nay shall I let you devour me with your venom," said the Lord of Death courageously and sent forth his mighty lance into the Snake's huge figure. The Dark Snake Lord was taken back by the attack that he let go of the Lord of Death. Then he rose while the Dark Snake Lord agonized in pain with the lance in his flesh. The Lord of Death seized his chance by taking the handle of his lance and drilled even deeper into the Snake Lord's wound. His hissing screams filled the atmosphere then the lance was struck out from his wound.
The next thing the Snake Lord knew was that the blade of lance was coming straight for him. It was inevitable for him to escape and the consequence was that he fell to the hands of the Death Lord. His head was separated from his body with a single cut by the Death Lord. The Dark Snake Lord felt the sharp pain for a moment and it died of later. His headless body stood there and fell before the Lord of Death. His head however was still able to talk and breathed out one last warning.
"Woe to you for you have freed Him from his bonds. Woe to this world that the Gods have kept safe for thousand of years for this bastard will destroy it," he hissed silently. The Lord of Death gave no word but picked up his lance and thrust into the severed head of the Snake Lord – ending his life. He then carried Loki back to Nifleheim leaving what's left behind.
Hours later, the Death Lord finally settled inside the only last standing manor in Nifleheim. He had placed their Sire on a bed to allow him to rest and recover back much of his strength after being tortured countless by the Dark Snake Lord. There was peace for a moment until an Abysmal Knight approached towards the Lord of Death.
"Milord! We have received word that a new army of Raydrics and Khalitzburg is being sent by Lord Gothmaul of Glast Heim," reported Samael, one of the Generals of the Death Lord.
"How long will they arrive here Samael?" asked the Lord of Death looking quite pleased with the report.
"Seven days at least," continued Samael.
"That's enough time for us to recover and to plan our invasion soon. I pity for Osgiliath that he had to suffer against the Dark Snake Lord but his sacrifice will not be in vain. And I am indeed thankful that this new army would replace Osgiliath and his fallen ones," said the Lord of Death aloud with a stern voice, "For now we must wait for Loki to be awaken. Samael give word to the ranks to be ready themselves in the next seven days by that time we shall move out."
"At once milord," bowed Samael and then he rode out to give out Death Lord's command.
Seven days passed by quickly and the wait for Lord Gothmaul's reinforcements had finally come to a halt. Lord Gothmaul had sent a huge army of Raydrics and Khalitzburg more than the Lord of Death would expect. There were too many too count them for their number reached above thousands. They were only mere armors with souls of ages past damned to be will by the Lord of Glast Heim. And all of them stood ready before the Lord of Death awaiting their orders.
"Excellent, I shall present Gothmaul later with a tub of blood as a token of my appreciation to satisfy his bloodthirsty desire," said the Lord of Death, as he looked at each and every of the Raydrics and Khalitzburg standing in the front row. All of them looked maniacal and fiendish as the other. The Lord of Death gave a sinister smile for a moment, "Who leads this army of Gothmaul?"
"I do," said a voice behind the ranks. The Raydrics and Khalitzburg moved aside and make way for their leader to go through. What the Death Lord saw surprised as he saw a demon in female form in front of him. He was not sure that she would be the one to lead the army of damned souls of Gothmaul.
"Who are you?" demanded the Lord of Death looking towards the female demon. She had two faces one a beautiful face of a maiden and the other a hideous face of a demon. She had horns pointed out from her dark blue hair. She wore red tights and holds a lethal Chemeti in her hand. To some who recognize her she is known as the Zhertlesh or Zeolotus of Glast Heim.
"My name is Zhar, I am Lord Gothmaul's right-hand Lieutenant and one of his trusted subordinates. I have been assigned duty to lead his army and also to present you with this for the Sire," answered Zhar while she presented the Lord of Death with an unlabelled jar. The Lord of Death took the jar from Zhar's hand.
'What is this?"
"We believe that seven days has past yet the God Loki is still asleep. Lord Gothmaul has given us the divine blood of Baldur the God of Light, could awaken him from his slumber," answered Zhar.
True enough, that a week has past yet Loki is still in a state of coma. The Death Lord left the entire army of reinforcements unattended and quickly returned to the manor where Loki slept. The Lord of Death hesitated to open the jar, which could awaken their Master. The lid was upon from the jar and then the Death Lord feed the God Loki with the blood contain inside it. At first nothing had happened, it was thought to be a failure and the Death Lord almost admitted that their Sire is no more only a lifeless body. It was moments after did the God of Lies and Deceit opened his eyes after eons had passed.
Loki has been reborned.